So I need to get an internet conection to a remote location. I have a few points I could mount largish antennas and I can the approximate distance to cover. I also have a small budget to throw at the problem. But is it possible? Is it possible in the middle of a city? I was going to just build some directional antennas, aim them in the right direction, and have at it. Then I looked at the actual distance I had to cover; five and a half miles. Thats just under 30,000 feet. Being the not-quite-so-wireless-guru that I am, I ask what do you guys think? Can it be done or am I outright mad?
I'd be much inclined to say outright mad. At least without some big powered anntenna's, and I believe thats probably illega.
Well, as far as the legality, I dunno. It's a temporary situation that only needs to be functional for 2-4 days. It seems it can be done with some commercial directional antennas but they are outside of the budget. I'm not sure if the average cantenna will cut it though....
well the flat land range record for 802.11 is something like 54Km but thats using high gain directional antennae and using a substantial output power. Best you'll get out of regular kit is probably around 4mW. The key points are whether you have an unobstructed line of site between your two mounting points and how good your antennae are with respect to gain and the like. It might be possible if you construct the cantenna really well and get minimal signal loss and a good output power and more importantly have a clear line of sight. If there are any buildings in the way then forget it - trees are a maybe depending on how thick the foilage is. Certainly I've seen cantenna links documented at around 7 Km HTH H
2 high gain directional’s and aps right next to them or even 2 omnis would easily do that though the problem is definitely Line of site and jake has got the facts there i would suggest get some aerial photos and head up to the roof of both buildings and take lots of pics then line it up and try and work out how clear it is
is it possible to add a few repeters or something like that in the link. something cheap like this at each end with a cheap antenna. and if posible something liek this in the middle with one pointing at one and and the other at the other end. http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000607055543/ http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/
you could probably pull it off with 2 of these, and 2 woks/engineered parabolic antennae on each side. with that kind of power and gain, it's probably illegal, but you said it would only be for a couple days, so I doubt you'd get caught some alternatives: Mikrotik they make a lot of wisp type stuff Proxim they make some really awesome wireless stuff
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/how-to-build-a-wifi-biquad-dish-antenna/ here is a antenna using a satellite dish.
5 miles is very doable, with waverider equipment! Even 9 to 11miles is doable. I was just on my way on leaving an ISP that uses this stuff to provide high speed internet to people out in the boonies. Of course this costs a LOAD of money. If you have 5 to 10k to spare, you could do it. The antenna is MASSIVE and HEAVY though. I think between 55 and 100Kg. and about 25 feet long. Don't recall exactly though. Pringles cans can tipically get around 250m iirc. You could also try using mini sat dishes along with a pringles can (or a cantenna) and get a wrt54g. Install linux on it and boost the signal strength from 28mW to 251mW. Of course doing any one of the previous steps in this paragraph is WAY outside FCC regulations. If your "cought" you could see a hefty fine and loss of equipment. EDIT: ah.. didn't read the post previous to mine. Thats what I was thinking of.
